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Unwrap the gift of giving this Christmas!
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It’s that time of year again… John Lewis has released their annual Christmas advert; Winter Wonderland is open for business; and Greggs has begun pouring their coffee into festive Christmas cups. The pavements sparkle with diamanté frost, and even the cold can be forgiven because… well, it’s Christmas!
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But this can be a particularly difficult time of year for some families. We’re all feeling the cost-of-living crisis, but it has hit families in poverty harder than anyone else. In the midst of this crisis, families in the UK face mounting pressures. The result is not just a Christmas that doesn’t feel like Christmas: it’s a looming health crisis.
You can change this.
Now more than ever, your contribution means everything. This Christmas, please consider donating to ATD Fourth World. You can read our appeal here, and please follow this link to donate.
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Looking for Christmas gift ideas? Browse through our Christmas catalogue below to choose our books and postcards to offer loved ones.
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To purchase any of these items, email atd@atd-uk.org with the details of your order and contact us for any questions about shipping and handling fees.
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Domestic violence and poverty: Angela's story
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Experiencing poverty causes women to be especially vulnerable to violence. On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Angela, an ATD activist, spoke about her experience of domestic violence:
“The house we had before, I thought of it as somewhere safe, I thought of it as home. But when you experience domestic abuse, you have to leave all of this. That night I left, we had nothing. No money, no belongings. We had to leave everything behind.”
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Tackling poverty and especially improving women’s economic security are steps towards making it safer for women to navigate the world. “We need more action, not just a small plaster to cover such a big wound.” Read more of Angela’s story here. |
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Meeting from across Europe to propose changes to child protection services
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Having a parent advocate can make a powerful difference in family court, as shown in this article about how a judge can have a magical effect on a child's life. Across Europe, ATD teams have been working on the right to family life through the International Family Advocacy project. Over the last three years, this project has been led by parents in poverty in several European countries. On 18-20 November, around 60 activists gathered at our international centre in Pierrelaye (France) for the conclusion of this project. The delegation from the UK was composed of activists Tammy Mayes, Lareine Mouoguia, Patricia Bailey and Amanda Button, supported by Caitlin Sibthorpe and Diana Skelton. |
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On the final day, they presented their work to 50 invited guests, including professionals and academics. The guests from the UK were: Lyle Barker, James Blewitt, Brid Featherstone, Anna Gupta, and Jane Tunstill. These discussions elaborated on proposals of change to child protection systems, developed during meet ups of paired countries across Europe in June. At this final gathering, the issues discussed included child protection case files, adoption schemes, and the impact of training. |
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On the public day, Tammy was asked to make a presentation in the plenary on the topic: "poverty is not neglect". The group of UK activists also made a presentation during a workshop about training, both of social work students, and within peer groups of activists who train themselves to be effective public speakers while protecting their own boundaries.
A final report and a video about this whole project are now being prepared by the international facilitation team.
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Our newest annual review includes highlights about our outreach to families seeking asylum, including survivors of human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Please see this post to download the publication — or if you'd like a printed version, contact us at atd@atd-uk.org with your postal address. |
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Workshop at UCL — The public silence of people in poverty
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On 2 November, University College London organised a seminar largely about the lack of visibility of people in poverty in public debates in the UK over time. But Fran Bennett (University of Oxford, and a long-time ally of ATD Fourth World) brought this up to date, by talking about the lived experience of poverty and its place in debates about poverty today. Her presentation, “The Merging of Knowledge? Lived experience of poverty and its place in poverty debates”, focused in particular on how ATD Fourth World works to bring together different kinds of expertise, including that acquired from lived experience, to create a richer kind of knowledge and better-informed practice. To read her presentation, please click here.
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| At ATD, we are always looking for regular volunteers to support our work and help us achieve our aims. If you are interested in helping our teams, either in London or at Frimhurst Family House in Surrey, please email atd@atd-uk.org. |
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